Our connection to the blogsphere has allowed Pundit Review to discuss certain stories days, weeks and even months before our talk radio audience in Boston ever hear a word about them in the MSM.
That is what makes blogs so powerful as a counter balance to the MSM. Their monopoly on deciding what is and is not news has been shattered. It is a beautiful thing.
What got me thinking about this was a headline on Marketwatch.com written by their excellent media columnist Jon Friedman,
TV Guide is a 2005 cautionary tale
Commentary: Publishing’s future hinges on innovation
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) – TV Guide, which has been surrendering circulation to interactive listing services and newspaper supplements for many years, is a cautionary tale. As the magazine industry’s leaders party and brainstorm at their annual meeting this week in Puerto Rico, they should all heed the crystal-clear message presented by TV Guide’s plight: innovate or die.
Now this is not earth shattering news, or even a very important story in and of itself. However, it IS a cautionary tale about the current state of the media and it is illustrative of what is happening at many, many media outlets.
I thought immediately about our interview with Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine back in August. As a former TV Guide editor, we discussed this very issue.
That got me thinking about other issues and other interviews.
Over a year ago, we spoke to Scott Johnson of Powerline days after he and a small group of bloggers figured out that Dan Rather used bogus documents in his Bush national guard hit piece.
We’ve spoken to the incomparable Michael Yon about the effectiveness of the Iraqi security forces months ago while the MSM continued to wail away about their ineffectiveness. Only now, after another successful election, are they starting to take notice.
We’ve talked to Brian Maloney of Radio Equalizer about the Air America scandal about a month before the story made national news.
We spoke to National Journal’s resident blogger Danny Glover about the impact bloggers could have on legislation, weeks before the post-Katrina birth of Porkbusters
More recently we’ve talked to Mark Tapscott about the OU suicide bomber a week before CNN figured out the significance of this story.
That is the beauty of blogs. Tomorrow’s news today. Determined by us, not them. We are proud to be able to bring the best thought leaders in the new media to Boston’s Talk Station AM680 WRKO each week.